George had a feeling that disaster was imminent, but he couldn't figure out why. Then the jumbo jet crashed into his garage.

Don't confuse this word with eminent.

Impartial (im PAHR shul) adj: fair, not favoring one side or the other, unbiased

Jurors are supposed to be impartial rather than partial. They aren't supposed to make up their minds until they've heard all the evidence.

Beverly tried to be an impartial judge at the beauty contest, but in the end she couldn't help selecting her own daughter to be the new Pork Queen.

Immutable (I MYOO tuh bul) adj: unchangeable

Jerry's mother had only one immutable rule: no dancing on the dinner table.

The statue of the former principal looked down on the students with an immutable scowl.

Something that is changeable is said to be mutable. The mutable shoreline shifted continually as the tides moved sand first in one direction and then in another.

Helena's moods were mutable. One minute she was kind and gentle, the next minute she was screaming with anger.

Both immutable and mutable are based on a Latin root meaning change. So are mutation and mutant.

Impeccable (im PEK uh bul) adj: flawless, entirely without sin

The children's behavior was impeccable. They didn't set fire to the cat, and they didn't pour naval dye into the swimming pool.

Hal's clothes were always impeccable. Even the wrinkles were perfectly creased.

By the way, peccable means liable to sin. And while we're at it, peccadillo is a minor sin.

Imperial (im PEER ee ul) adj: like an emperor or an empire

Imperial, emperor and empire are all derived from the same root.

England's imperial days are over, now that the British Empire has crumbled away.

The palace was decorated with imperial splendor.

George's imperial manner was inappropriate, since he was nothing more exalted than the local dogcatcher.

A similar word is imperious, which means bossy and, usually, arrogant. The director's imperious style rubbed everyone the wrong way. He always seemed to be giving orders and he never listened to what anyone said.